


Catch Me When I Fall

by CaptainBrieOnToast



Series: Tsuredere Seventeen [11]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Actor Minghao, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23779378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainBrieOnToast/pseuds/CaptainBrieOnToast
Summary: The school musical should have been nothing but a breeze but you had never really danced before and the Senior teaching the ensemble dance was really cute and he may not get that the reason you keep falling on the third count is because you know he’ll catch you and you like being in his arms but that’s okay, that can be your secret for now.
Relationships: Xu Ming Hao | The8/Reader
Series: Tsuredere Seventeen [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1342339
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Catch Me When I Fall

You still remembered the excitement. The pure joy at being selected to be in the school musical. In reality, it wasn’t a huge deal. It was just an under-budget production of Beauty and the Beast, and you were just another person on the ensemble. You didn’t have a character name, you barely had to be at rehearsals, and you had _one_ line.

Still, you were _ecstatic_ to see your name on the list. It was your first time doing a school musical, your last high school hadn’t had acting as an opportunity you could pursue.

You were beyond lucky that you got to move to a whole new school that actually had a theatre program. It almost made up for the fact that you had to leave all of your friends behind at your old school.

You still missed them a bit, but you were trying to put that behind you.

You skyped them every night to do homework and tell them all about your day, and while not _ideal_ that, momentarily, would just have to be enough.

Anyways, you were _so_ beyond excited to be a part of Beauty and the Beast. There were 40 people on cast. That was including the dance ensemble from dance class that was doing all the choreography for the musical numbers.

It was one thing to spend an exorbitant amount of time practicing different parts in a song and learning where you had to stand on stage (which was honestly your favorite part about theatre. Why didn’t _everyone_ love blocking? It was so much fun!) but it was a whole other thing to learn the dances.

One boy… A senior was in charge of teaching everyone the choreography that the dance class had come up with. He was tall, skinny, and had shaggy black hair styled close to that of a mullet. You didn’t know much about him.

You knew that his name was Xu Minghao. His family was China descended but they clearly didn’t live in China anymore and he himself was pretty quiet among the others.

You knew he _could_ speak Chinese. You had heard him doing it quietly along with some other people on cast a number of times, but other than that you couldn’t say much for him.

He was kind, but focused, and whenever he caught your eye and that soft smile graced his lips…

You fell back onto your bed, holding your phone above you.

“I don’t know what to do! He’s _so_ cute,” you exclaimed. “But he’d never look at me, he’s a senior.”

“Please,” your friend scoffed over the Skype call. “You’re a Sophmore, that’s not a huge difference. You totally have a chance.”  
You pouted and sat up.

“He’s way too cute for me,” you argued. Your friend rolled her eyes.

“What’s his name again?” She asked.

“Xu Minghao.”

You could hear her fingers flying across her computer keyboard, each click audible from over the call. You waited patiently until she was done, and that’s when she hummed.

“Oh, he _is_ cute.”

You grimaced.

“Internet stalking is _not_ cute,” you stated.

“Hey, you’re not the one internet stalking. I am,” she responded. She looked at the camera and gave you a knowing look. “Anyways, you’re totally in this guys league. You should go for it!”

“I can’t.”

You glanced at the time.

“Anyways, speaking of perfection, I have to get to practice,” you stated. You sat up on the bed. “We’re learning the dance for Be Our Guest, which will probably be our biggest dance number. Wish me luck.”  
“Break legs,” your friend said. “And hey, kiss that Minghao guy while you are at it.”  
“Ha ha,” you said mockingly, before clicking the end call button on your phone. Although… You supposed one thing she had said today wasn’t an awful idea…

Sure you wouldn’t want to actually break your legs, but maybe a few controlled falls during practice wouldn’t hurt. You’d heard rumors that Minghao stayed after practice somedays in order to help people learn if they needed it.

You weren’t the best dancer anyways, but maybe if you purposely didn’t do perfectly…

“ _One and two and three-_ ”

You fumbled slightly and you wished you could say it was genuinely because you were just trying to get Minghao’s attention.

From the first moment that your eyes landed on Minghao, you knew you couldn’t pretend to do bad just for his attention. That was unfair to everyone else. That was unfair to his generosity.

So it was just _that_ much more humiliating when you kept missing the counts. It was just a jump, a skip, a spin, and then an elegant sway to the side.

_Why was it that you were having so much trouble with that?_

“Alright guys, let’s try it again,” Minghao said calmly. He weaved in between the rows of kids, looking at everyone with a careful, patient eye.

You got back into your starting position. This time you were going to get it. You _had_ to get it, it wasn’t that difficult after all. Everyone else could get it.

“Alright. One and two and three-”  
Another fumble, this one and a little bit harder than the first. You quickly steadied yourself and fell back in line with everyone else, hoping that Minghao hadn’t noticed. You swept your foot across the stage, pulled your arm over your chest.

 _Don’t forget to smile, can’t forget to smile_.

“Four and five and six. One and two and three-”  
Another jump, you landed, pulled your foot around and… Subsequently lost your balance. You groaned your frustration and quickly swung your arms through the air, trying to keep up with everyone else. No one could know that you had messed up…

You let a smile grace your face again and you guys began a short jig as you switched positions on the stage.

“Okay, that’s good for now.”

Everyone stopped in unison and turned their attention to Minghao who smiled at the cast.

“And now you all know the dance!” He announced pleasantly. “Don’t forget to practice it at home or you’ll forget what you learned. Oh and get some rest okay?”  
Everyone nodded and thanked Minghao in unison for teaching them. You just grimaced and clutched your fingers tightly to your palm.

 _Great_. You were behind.

You quietly swept through the crowd of people and grabbed your backpack, swinging it over your shoulder. Before anyone had the chance to talk to you, you swept out of the room and rushed down the hall.

You didn’t know too much about this school, but you knew your math teacher pretty well. They liked to leave the door open, and there was a large open space in the center of the classroom.

This way you could practice without anyone to notice how badly you were doing.

You set your bag down and began to rerun the steps in your head. You could hear Minghao recounting every step as you did so.

_One and two and three and four and five and six and one and two and three-_

You stumbled again. The same spot.

You stopped and repeated the move on your own, taking it a little slower this time. You could do it slowly.

You walked through the move again, and again, and then tried to do it fast.

_One and two and three-_

You fumbled again, tripping over your leg.

 _This_ time, you weren’t able to regain your balance, you felt your body falling forward, about to land on the ground face first. You grimaced preparing for the fall that never came.

In fact, instead of landing on a desk, you landed in a warm pair of arms, supported upright by a warm chest.

Your face reddened and you pulled back defensively.

“Wh- _what_ -”  
Standing there was Minghao. He was staring inquisitively at you, an amused expression on his face.

“You okay?” He asked you. You wrinkled your nose.  
“U-Uh. Yeah,” you assured. “What are you doing in here?”  
Minghao chuckled.

“Most people would just say thank you.”  
You frowned deeply.

“Thank you.”  
“What’s your name?” Minghao asked. You were taken aback by the question and even stepped back slightly.  
“Me?” You asked.  
Minghao nodded.

“You keep missing the jumps on the third count… Why didn’t you just say something?”  
You grimaced and instead of responding you told him your name. He hummed.

“That’s suiting of someone as determined as you.”  
“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”  
“Look, if you’re having trouble landing the jump at full speed but not slower it just means your progressing yourself too fast. Just run it slowly until you’re completely comfortable with it, then you will be able to do the dance at full speed just fine,” Minghao suggested. 

He came up to you and placed his hands at the base of your arms, pulling them across until you spread your arms fully out. His fingers delicately brushed your fingertips.  
“And don’t forget to keep your arms out as you land. They’ll help you keep your balance and prevent you from stumbling into desks,” he stated. Your face warm, you nodded, a little nervous to be under Minghao’s direct scrutinization. He stepped back. “I’ll run it with you.”

And that he did.

Slowly he began to recount each count, moving through each step with you. You remembered what he said, trying to let yourself get comfortable with the dance before you went any faster.

It was kind of frustrating to have to run it a million times at that speed when a part of you felt like it was too slow, but you knew deep down that if you sped it up already, all your hard work would go to waste.

You kept your patience, just running each step over and over again with Minghao at the slow speed.

It was even kind of fun to be working with him one-on-one. He’d stop you at certain parts, taking care to tweak small flaws in your form. You hated to admit it, but every once in a while, you let your arm hang just a little _too_ low so that Minghao would touch your wrist with the pad of his finger, and guide your body into the position it should hold.

Sometimes, his hand would linger there and he would take the moment to look you in the eyes and assure you that you were doing great. It always left your face red, but if he ever asked, you would just say it was because you had been essentially working out for so long.

You guys went at it for about another hour when Minghao stopped.

“Alright, I think it’s time to call it quits.”

You mostly ignored him.

“Have a good night,” you stated and then promptly began to run the dance again. You did the counts in your head, landed the jump, went to move into the next move when Minghao stopped you, setting his hand on your shoulder.  
“I mean you too,” he stated. “You know this is just a school musical right? You don’t need to push yourself so hard.”  
You gave him a short smile.

“I’m not pushing myself that hard, I just don’t want to be behind is all. I can’t let everyone down,” you replied. Minghao laughed and patted your head gently with his hand.  
“You aren’t letting anyone down by not picking up the dance the first day that you learned it,” he stated softly. You ignored him and focused on running the dance moves all over again. Minghao made a face at you. “Come _on_.”

“Just let me practice. I’m not hurting anyone,” you responded. Just as you were about to lead into the jump Minghao reached forward and grabbed your wrist. You looked up at him and were a little surprised to find a scary shadow spread across his face. He looked mad,

“You’re hurting yourself by pushing your body more than necessary. You can practice tomorrow if you insist on practicing, but there’s no point in practicing more right now.”

You swallowed hard, relaxing your body a bit under his grip. He seemed to notice your surrender and loosened his grip on your arm, even going so far as to smile.

“And quite honestly, I’m a bit offended. Can’t you tell when someone thinks your cute? I was kinda hoping you would get some dinner with me since we’re done practicing and all.”

You blinked.

“ _Huh?_ ”

“There’s a McDonald’s down the street,” he replied. “Meals on me?”

“I couldn’t-”

“Don’t be ridiculous I’m offering,” Minghao interrupted with a wave his hand. He picked up your backup and swung it over his shoulder. “Besides I have your stuff now, so you’re just going to have to come with me.”

And like that he walked out of the room. You stared at the spot that he had been standing in blankly for a moment and then jumped into action, chasing out of the room after him.

“ _Hey_! You can’t just force me to go on a date with you!” You blurted out. Minghao glanced back at you, that soft expression still spread across his face.

“Well, it’s working so far isn’t it?” He asked. “Unless you genuinely don’t find me attractive or want to go on a date me, I don’t see an issue.”

You couldn’t respond to that, which he seemed to take as a confirmation that he was right because he turned back around and continued down the hallway. You jogged to catch up to him and fell in step beside him. You looked down at the ground.

“You really think I’m cute?” You asked nervously. “Like you’re not just saying that so that I won’t practice anymore?”

“Do I seem like the kind of person to just call a girl cute and not mean it?” Minghao asked looking down at you. You pouted and didn’t respond, which made him laugh. “Yeah, I think you’re really cute.”

You stayed quiet so he kept talking.

“I’ve actually kind of been hoping to have a chance to ask you out. You’re really quiet though and don’t stick to any particular groups so I couldn’t figure out how to approach you without scaring you.”

“I think you’re really cute too,” you mumbled. You looked up at him and sighed. “Can I have my backpack back now?”

“Nah, I quite like carrying it.”

“But-”

Minghao winked at you and picked up his pace.

“I’ll only give it back if you get in my car with me,” he teased. You watched him run ahead of you for a moment, and then you picked up speed to catch up with him.

“Xu Minghao you _jerk_! Get back here!”

And just like that, you took off after him, determined not to stop chasing him until he was properly caught.


End file.
